What you need to know about Oregon's teacher walkouts on Wednesday

By Jordyn Brown The Register-Guard

Monday

May 6, 2019 at 5:00 AM

Eugene and Bethel school districts have cancelled school Wednesday as their teachers plan to join a statewide movement of walking out and rallying at the state capitol for more funding for K-12 public education.

More than 700 licensed staff (equal to about three-quarters of the total licensed staff) pledged to walk out in Eugene School District alone. The districts did not have enough licensed staff to operate and cancelled the regular school day — meeting the teachers’ goal to disrupt school so dramatically that lawmakers might take notice.

Springfield School District will have a normal school day, as its union decided against a walkout. Instead, Springfield educators will line Main Street after school Wednesday in their own way of protest.

The statewide walkout has been promoted by the state educators union, Oregon Education Association, for over a month. The union represents more than 40,000 educators at pre-K through grade 12 public schools and community colleges.

OEA is pushing for the Legislature to earmark $10.7 billion to Oregon’s K-12 public schools and $787 million to its community colleges. Teachers and state union leaders hope the walkouts along with multiple demonstrations and rallies in Eugene, Bend, Portland and Salem will spur lawmakers to action in delegating this money.

“There is I believe a growing awareness that we can't continue with business as usual,” said Tad Shannon, president of the Eugene Education Association. “And I think educators are going to have to lead on this, because we keep putting our hopes in the Legislature and our public officials to come to grips with this problem and it hasn't worked.”

Both Bethel and Eugene school superintendents made statements that the districts do not condone the walkouts. And the impact is unprecedented, according to district spokesperson Kerry Delf.

“We certainly have seen student activity — many times over the years, including some notable times in just the last couple of years,” she said. “But a teacher walkout on this large scale that has led us to close schools is not something we have seen in recent memory.”

Why it’s happening

The Eugene Education Association, which represents teachers from both Eugene and Bethel schools, will start picketing at 8 a.m. Wednesday in a handful of locations around Eugene before holding a rally downtown at 11 a.m. near the Park Blocks, the area where Saturday Market is held.

From there, local teachers will take buses to Salem where they will rally with other teachers across the state in front of the Capitol where speakers from OEA and the National Education Association will speak and meet with legislators.

“We’re really trying to bring attention to the crisis that's in our schools,” said John Larson, OEA president. “Thirty years of disinvestment in schools has lead to a point where it just can't happen any longer.”

This statewide movement mirrors the larger one taking place across the country known as “Red for Ed.” Teachers dress in red and stage various protests for more school funding, better work conditions and increased teacher pay. It has taken hold in states like Arizona and Oklahoma, which both rank in the bottom five states for average annual teacher salary at $48,000 and $46,000.

Oregon is No. 12 with an average salary of about $63,000 and an average starting salary of about $36,000 a year. The national average salary is just over $60,000, according to the National Education Association.

Increased teacher pay was a significant point of going “red for ed” in other states, but Shannon vehemently argues Eugene’s teachers are walking out for better school resources and not increased salaries noting that teachers in Eugene and Bethel will not be paid for May 8.

“We haven't even talked about salary issues,” he said. “That is not the driving force in this May 8 walkout. The driving force is demanding the Legislature do what it needs to do to significantly generate new revenue for schools."

OEA is demanding the increased funds from the state come from new money funded through increased business taxes — not from other areas like higher education or healthcare that also impact students.

“The answer is not to put more burden on already struggling families,” Shannon said. “But we think with corporations and large businesses making record profits and paying among the lowest corporate taxes in the country, that they can afford to pay more toward schools. ... This has to be new money, otherwise it doesn’t get us anywhere.”

Last week, the Oregon House of Representatives passed the Student Success Act, which would allocate $2 billion per biennium to K-12 education. But Larson said there’s still a way to go with getting it through the Senate and Gov. Kate Brown’s seal of approval. Then it would likely be taken to Oregon’s citizens on a ballot.

So even if it passes in the Senate by Wednesday, the walkouts still will happen.

“The angst in the system and the tension among our members is what’s driving this action,” Larson said. “We’re trying to give people an appropriate channel for it.”

Some schools and services still open

Though school is closed, some services and activities will continue Wednesday in Bethel and Eugene school districts.

For both districts, advanced placement and international baccalaureate testing will continue. At Bethel schools, after-school youth sports will continue. At Eugene schools’ athletic competitions and scheduled outdoor schools will be held with the exception of Wednesday’s daytime outdoor school at Howard Elementary School. Athletic practices and after-school activities are voluntary.

Eugene schools also will have free breakfast and lunch for students at the following schools: North Eugene High, Churchill High, South Eugene High, Sheldon High, Madison Middle, Spencer Butte Middle, Cal Young Middle and Chavez Elementary.

Neither district will make up the day in June, as they will meet the state’s requirements for instructional time for most grades without it.

Eugene schools, however, still are evaluating whether it will have to seek a waiver for that instructional time for this year’s seniors because they get out earlier for graduation or if they will have to add additional time.

Springfield is the only district in the local metro area that won’t be disrupted for the school day.

After talking with a number of union members Springfield Education Association’s building representatives decided if 80% of its members pledged to walk out, the union would let the district know. Only 76% of the union members committed, so none of the district’s teachers are expected to walk out. Instead, Springfield teachers, staff and administrators announced that they will "Turn Main Street Red for Ed" starting at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, standing along Main Street from Pioneer Parkway east to at least 10th Street.

“I heard from people that we were pleased we were doing something different that it wasn’t going to disrupt students. I heard from people who were quite unhappy because a very large majority did vote to walk out,” said Anne Goff, president of Springfield’s teachers union. She said there were some members who accepted the process despite wanting to walk out.

Goff admitted the choice of 80% was “arbitrary,” but said it had been used as a threshold for involvement decisions in the past. A few years ago, the union used the same percentage for a decision about changing the district’s bell schedule.

“We had a process, we were transparent about our process, we worked through the process,” Goff said. “We are working hard to unite and move forward to support funding for education.”

Follow Jordyn Brown on Twitter @thejordynbrown or email at jbrown@registerguard.com.

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